


Chilly night

by Pokypup49



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Dark Thoughts, F/M, Joel is a good dad, Loneliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 17:52:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15491394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokypup49/pseuds/Pokypup49
Summary: Joel and Ellie have to stop and rest for the night, but the cold is coming and Ellie is feeling rather blue.





	Chilly night

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Naughty Dog or any of the characters.

                The building was dark as the sun set over the overgrown oak trees in the back. Its windows were broken and the doors hung helplessly, dangling on the hinges. The carpet was wet in parts and had moss, mold, and grass growing from it. The cupboards were stained with mold and water. The once nice tile flooring was now chipped and cracked, uneven and loose. The house probably was once a clean and welcoming place, full of laughter and memories. Her hand ran along the banister as she walked up and she wondered if the walls could tell her stories of the lives that once thrived in it. The stairs creaked under each step but she didn’t stop as she reached a hallway. Curiously, and cautiously, she peered into each room. She’d find the best-looking mattress, cleanest looking room to rest in but she was also looking for any supplies that would help her along her journey.

                The last room down the hall was pink from the setting sun. The mattress was worn and stained, but it’d do just fine. A desk rested along the opposite wall, papers and a book still open on it. She took a moment to look through it. It looked like someone had been by and did some sketched, and left a book behind. Maybe she’d read through it if she felt like it. She placed the book down haphazardly and tossed her backpack on the bed. The paint was chipped and the drywall had a few holes in it from either gunshots, punches, or maybe wildlife, she didn’t know. A picture on the wall had three girls standing in front of a tree, all with arms over each other’s shoulders, but it was faded and worn from water damaged.

                “Hey,” a deep voice broke her thoughts as she looked at the picture. “I think this will work. Are you hungry?”

                She shrugged. She was, but food was hard to come by. What they did have, she knew it needed to last. So, if she didn’t eat tonight, they could eat tomorrow morning. Her red hair swooshed gently side to side as she shook her head. “I’ll be fine,” she answered quietly.

                “I’m going to go look around, take one final look around the area.” The deep voice confirmed. “Please stay here.”

                She nodded this time and looked out the window. It was so quiet. Some places, dogs barked, or wild animals like deer and foxes scurried about, but not here. She wasn’t old enough to really understand the meaning of a lot of things, and she wasn’t exactly “educated” but she was smart and it worried her that it was so quiet.

                Footsteps carried the man from her room and down the creaking stairs. She looked down at her dirty sneakers and then at her jeans. They probably could use a wash. She was soaked from the mud and grime of the earlier journey. Somewhere in this house would be a bucket and she could find water. But she was also tired. Maybe she’d do it in the morning when it was warmer. She fell back onto the worn mattress and kicked her shoes off. She’d just close her eyes, get some rest, and hopefully, in the morning things would go smoother.

                She put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. The memories of past friends flashed through her thoughts and her dreams and she opened them to the water stained ceiling. Again, she closed her eyes, but missed faces flashed in her memory, giving her an empty feeling. She opened her eyes and wiped the tear that started to fall down towards her ear. She couldn’t let Joel see her cry, she had to stay strong. Yes, dear friends, and people that meant the world to her, were gone, but it happened to everyone, and she couldn’t let it get to her now. She closed her eyes again to see her best friend, Riley, smiling at her, the last smile they’d share together. This time the tears fell more freely. “Damn it,” she growled at herself as she sat up and wiped her eyes roughly. She looked back at the picture on the wall and began to wonder if they’d lived if they’d ever have moments like that, happily sitting under a big tree, smiling, posing for pictures. If this life wasn't eat or get eaten, literally, if she’d be happier with her friends. If the military, Firefly, or any of those organizations were ever organized to hunt each other, fi children like her could maybe enjoy being children.

                “Naw,” she dismissed the idea. She sighed heavily and looked through her bag. There was nothing in there to help her relax. She tossed it to the head of the bed, resting her head on it as she laid back down looking up at the ceiling.

                “This is the quietest you’ve been in a while,” the deep voice said as it returned to the room. This time, the man entered and tossed his bag by the bed. “Are you okay?”

                They weren’t ones to talk feelings. Joel didn’t like feelings as much as she did. She turned her head to him, seeing him scratching his cheek. “I just have a lot on my mind, leave me alone.” Typical teenage response.

                He nodded, reached down and untied his boots. “There’s a creek just North of here. I could hear it when I explored the houses over that way.” He didn’t take his boots off, just stretched his feet in them. “Tomorrow we can take our time leaving and wash up.” He sat down, leaning against the wall. He grumped and sighed as he closed his own eyes. “I set some bells by the stairs. They will wake us up if anyone walked by the stairs and hit the wire.”

                “Okay,” she muttered back. He was always taking care of her, and although they annoyed the crap out of each other, the company at the end of the day was comforting. Joel was not one to talk anyway, so she generally talked until she fell asleep, but tonight was different. She was so tired, so worn out, and she missed her friends, she just wanted to be alone.

                “Feel that breeze?”

                She shrugged. They were used to being cold. They normally didn’t have jackets all the time and the fall weather brought colder nights.

                “I hope it doesn’t rain,” he muttered again.

                She hoped so too. “Especially since it doesn’t look like this house if very waterproof anymore,” she joked.

                He chuckled and nodded though she didn’t see it. He crossed his arms and leaned his head back. One thing she was terribly jealous about was how easily he fell asleep. Within minutes, he was snoring. Though he was a light sleeper, sensitive to noises, he fell asleep at the drop of a hat and that it was okay too. She took longer to get to sleep and slept harder. She would try to sneak away, and he’d wake up and tell her to lay back down with a grumpy attitude. She guessed that would be what it’d be like to have a dad. But After she was back in bed, he’d start snoring again. She didn’t try to get out of the bed this time. She just tossed and turned as the room grew dark.

                The cold did come. The lack of insulation left in the room, lack of windows, let the chilling fall breeze sweep right through. She must have huffed too loud because Joel woke and left to retrieve a blanket for her. She thought he might have just needed to pee, but when he brought back an old quilt, she felt better. He tossed it over her, rubbing her side. “Better?” His voice was rough, dry from sleeping with his mouth open and snoring.

                She nodded and tried to close her eyes.

                “Have you slept at all?”

                She shrugged. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

                “You said that,” he acknowledged. “But we have a ways to go tomorrow. You need to sleep.”

                Maybe it made him feel more fatherly and that’s why he insisted on pestering her about her bad habits, but she rolled her eyes at his concern. “I’ll be fine.”

                She turned her back to him and pulled the blanket close. She was going to have to find a coat somewhere, or find a blanket like this one to carry with her. She heard his sit back against the wall and cleared his throat, licked his lips and yawned. The quiet seemed to allow her to hear everything which made her even more uncomfortable. It was eerie and empty feeling. Joel probably loved it because he could distinguish bad noises from unthreatening noises in his sleep easier. However, she laid there, her stomach growling, cold, and so alone.

                In all honesty, she didn’t know how long she laid there, with her eyes closed, feeling as if time had stopped around her. But, at some point, she heard Joel get up and grump as he stretched. She rolled over and looked at him in the darkness. She could make out his outline with his hands in the air and his head rolling side to side. “Did you hear something?” If he had, it couldn’t have been anything too awful, he wasn’t in a hurry.

                “It’s just a bit chilly,” he grumped. “Figured I’d get up and walk around a bit.”

                “Fall isn’t too far away,” she muttered into the blanket as she pulled it up to her mouth. “Let’s go south for the winter.”

                He chuckled as he picked up his rifle and headed out the door. She watched, carefully listening to each footstep fall heavily on each step. She could hear clearly, the creaks of the house, as he walked around downstairs, and exited out the back door. She should have gone with him, not for his sake, but for hers. She just wasn’t tired. Her thoughts of friendship and company of her age and liking plagued her sleepy mind. Instead, she curled up into a ball, pulled the blanket tighter around herself, and closed her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time that night.

                This time, she must have fallen asleep. Though she did not dream. That just told her how exhausted she was. She woke to the bed springs moving and she flinched, jumping to grab her knife as she flipped around to attack her attacker.

                “Whoa,” he called out as he lifted a hand. “Easy, Kiddo,” Joel whispered. “You were shivering.”

                “In my sleep?”

                He nodded as she lowered her knife and looked down at her hands. He pulled her gently against his chest. “I’m just worried you’re … you’re cold.”

                She wanted to grump at him, argue and tell him how fine she was. But she wasn’t. She felt dirty, she wanted to cry, and she was, just as he said, cold. Everything right at that moment felt awful in her life.

                “You look tired,” he said in a yawn.

                “So do you,” she snarked back.

                He didn’t argue, because he knew it was true. But Ellie couldn’t really resist his hug because he did feel warm. She settled in as he sat up, leaned against the headboard. She guessed this is how her own father if she had one, would have held her. He pulled the blanket over her, putting one hand on the bed by his rifle, and the other draped over her shoulder. His breaths were even and steady, rhythmic and paced. It was like listening to a clock, steady ticking her to sleep. There was no feeling, except maybe a bit of comfort which she fought internally. Maybe he was just lonely as she was, she thought as yawned. It didn’t matter. He didn’t need to know how she felt, or what she was thinking. And he certainly didn’t need to know that she felt good at that moment.

                And as much as Ellie fought it, she felt sleep pull at her harder than ever before, and she felt relaxed. It may only be a few hours of sleep, but maybe it’d make her feel better. Maybe she’d get better sleep tomorrow. But she couldn’t think about that anymore. Sleep won as her thoughts and worries drifted away and she felt her own breaths even out.

                “I got’cha,” was all she heard Joel mutter as his hand tighten on her shoulder. And with that, she surrendered and slept. It’d be the sun’s rays to wake them in the morning. The air crisp, puffs of breath as they woke with heavy eyes. It was still a long day ahead, and they weren’t going to stop now. They donned the light jackets, and welcomed the warmth of the sun on their faces as they headed up the hill and along the creek.

               

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write about Joel and Ellie for some time now. I love their relationship, but I just can't do the sexual aspect at all. I really value the father-daughter thing they have going, and how defensive he is of her, and her determination for independence. I think both characters are so strong-willed and so like each other that they actually compliment each other. I'm hoping to write more like these ones, little short quips of their journey together. Let me know what you think!


End file.
